Space sports car heads for asteroid belt

A dummy in a spacesuit driving a red Tesla Roadster has been launched into space by Elon Musk.

The world's first space sports car is cruising toward the asteroid belt, well beyond Mars.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk has confirmed the new, more distant route for his rocketing Tesla Roadster, which was launched aboard the company's Falcon Heavy from Florida.

The Heavy became the most powerful rocket flying today with Tuesday's inaugural test flight.

Musk says the final firing of the upper stage put his red convertible into a solar orbit that stretches all the way to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The original plan had the car travelling no farther than Mars.

In the driver seat of the Tesla is a space-suited mannequin nicknamed "Starman." Musk doesn't plan to fly people on the Heavy, but is working on an even bigger rocket for deep-space crews.